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Q&A
Council Member Louis questions library presidents on funding allocation and service priorities
1:13:57
·
6 min
Council Member Farah N. Louis engages in a Q&A session with the presidents of New York's public library systems, focusing on the equitable distribution of restored funding and service priorities in underserved communities. The library leaders discuss their strategies for allocating resources, prioritizing branches in need, and using metrics to inform decision-making.
- Library presidents emphasize the importance of balancing emergency needs with planned improvements in underserved areas.
- Brooklyn Public Library reveals it would need $7,400,000 for seven-day service across all branches.
- Queens Public Library discusses its uniform hours policy and the use of detailed metrics for resource allocation.
Farah N. Louis
1:13:57
Thank you chairs and good morning.
1:14:01
I have three quick questions.
1:14:05
Despite city council's push to restore 6,200,000.0 in funding for libraries across the city and with the administration's only committing 15,700,000.0, this particular restoration has possible threats and equitable distribution in hours and programming and staffing especially in historically undeserved communities like Southeast Queens, East New York, East Flatbush, Brownsville.
1:14:35
So I wanted to know with only 15,700,000.0 of the 62.5 library funding restored, how is particularly all your systems planning to equitably prioritize branch hours and services particularly in these neighborhoods that I just mentioned and will your systems be using a particular formula to determine which branches will receive restored hours and staffing and how will council members and local communities be included in those decisions?
1:15:07
And the last one is kind of like the second one, but what what are the actual metrics that are being used in determining the cost at each branch for expanding to seven day service for FY '26?
Anthony "Tony" Marx
1:15:20
Sorry
Farah N. Louis
1:15:25
I know it's technical.
Gale A. Brewer
1:15:26
No no it's not It's
Linda Johnson
1:15:27
just that there are a lot questions in there, and I would say that the underlying theme of those questions is how do we make sure that patrons living in some of our most challenged neighborhoods are being appropriately served, especially in the face of inadequate funding.
1:15:49
And I would say that we keep a close eye on programming in the neighborhoods that you're referring to.
1:15:56
Many of those neighborhoods that you read are Brooklyn neighborhoods.
1:16:01
And, you know, we are very sensitive to not only the programming and content that are being offered in those neighborhoods, but also making sure that as we're looking at libraries, the physical libraries that need renovations and overhauls, that we're making sure that the branches in those neighborhoods are also particularly well cared for and prioritized in terms of what we need.
1:16:35
Of course, and I'm sorry because I, again, sound like a broken record, but there's a balance between dealing with emergencies that are unanticipated and making sure that we can actually do the kind of planning that we wanna do to make sure that the patrons in those neighborhoods have branches that are in good and working order.
1:17:01
So one emergency can come along and wipe out the capital budget for a particular year, and that's partly because we're not able to provide the kind of preventative work in those branches that would avoid those kinds of crises.
Farah N. Louis
1:17:20
And the last part is like system wide with all systems, is there a formula or a metric you all are using for a seven day service for all Well,
Linda Johnson
1:17:31
I I know what the number is in Brooklyn to be have seven day service across all of our branches and I know that because my good friend council person Brewer asks me every year.
1:17:45
And for Brooklyn, it's $7,400,000.
Dennis Walcott
1:17:51
So with Queens, we have uniform hours and days of the week that we're open.
1:17:56
So we make sure that the services being provided in the respective areas of Southeast Queens and other parts of Queens that deserve the service are fairly equitable.
1:18:09
But we also rely on the managers to be creative.
1:18:12
And then what we've done is try to allocate separate funding to the various branches as well.
1:18:18
So it's not a lot of funding, but individual funding so they can tailor it to their particular community's needs as well.
1:18:26
And we found that to be extremely helpful.
1:18:29
As far as the ability to manage the programs based on the budget, we go through a very rigorous internal budget process where we take a look at the equity as far as the allocation of the dollars to make sure that all the libraries are receiving equitable dollars and we're not shortchanging any one community at all.
1:18:48
But also when you asked about metrics, I imagine like all of us, we keep very detailed metrics of the services and the types of programs and the increases or decreases in a particular metric area and then make adjustments based on those metrics.
1:19:05
Well, those adjustments could be either increasing funds to try to make sure we increase the level of services in those metric areas or we reduce it because for whatever particular reason that program is not meeting the needs of the community any longer.
1:19:19
So we try to be collaborative in that process but we keep very detailed internal metrics and also as indicated earlier then that feeds into our five year strategic plan and looking at those eight priority areas for us in our five year strategic plan and how that unfolds over the next period of five years.
Farah N. Louis
1:19:38
Thank you for that.
Anthony "Tony" Marx
1:19:39
I'll just reiterate, we we have to provide services, equitable services across all of our neighborhoods, but we also recognize that the neighborhoods vary.
1:19:49
So we look at an array of factors, and we make decisions about investing in libraries or programs or thinking about Sunday services that include what are the other what what are the access to public transit and parking, for instance, but more particularly, number of visits, number of potential visits, demand, proximity to schools, even neighborhood income levels.
1:20:12
So one example of that is when we did get the ten year capital investment to do five Carnegie renovations, we focused those on neighborhoods of need, where income levels are lower and folks don't have alternative resources, programs, even just physical space to go to.
1:20:33
And so that's what we decided to invest in because that's where we felt the need was most pressing.
Farah N. Louis
1:20:38
Thank you all.
1:20:39
Thank you, chair.